There isn't money in anything, so do what you love

Because I work in a career centre on a university campus, I spend time talking with students, and wonder what they are thinking about the economy and well, just what is going to happen to them in general.

I'm not the only one (and I didn't think I was):

• I don't know any libraries that come on to campus to recruit new grads (they expect us to come to them, usually at ALA if they are gathered en masse) but you may be interested in last year's story about the slowing of corporate recruitment on campus.
• Minnesota Public Radio did a forum asking college students and their advisors about the job market and how confident they felt. The title of the post comes from one of the speakers at the forum in response to Ben Stein's advice (which isn't all bad, unless you can't stand bodily fluids. [And if you were counting on no vomit in libraries, one of the internship position questions I got asked at a public library was, what would you do if a child vomited in the library? Answer: clean it up].) 
• 247 Townhall, a project of One Economy (which also has some great resources on the Beehive), has some interviews with college students about their views on the economy, what their expectations are and how to fix it. They are also looking for more content.
  

What messages can people come away with from these forums and articles? Know what you can do with your degree and where the jobs are in your area. Look at the labor market and do some research (librarians are the only ones who have to cower when someone says, you better know how to research, cuz you better). There are still jobs out there, but you have to be realistic about pay, and you need to start looking now (December 2008 was the time you should have started, but if you haven't, crying won't put the milk back in the carton). And more school is not the solution.